Apple apologises for use of contractors to eavesdrop on Siri

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is apologising for allowing outsiders to listen to snippets of people’s recorded conversations with its digital assistant Siri, a practice that undermined its attempts to position itself as a trusted steward of privacy.

As part of the apology posted Wednesday, Apple reiterated an earlier pledge to stop keeping audio recorded through Siri unless consumers give their permission.

When permission is granted, Apple said only its own employees will be allowed to review audio to help improve the service.

Previously, the company hired contractors to listen to some recordings.

“We realise haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologise,” Apple conceded.

It’s not yet clear how Apple will seek permission, though in the past, Apple has typically requested permissions through prompts during software update installations.

In recent months, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple have all acknowledged that people have been reviewing users’ interactions with artificial intelligence assistants in order to improve the services.

But users aren’t typically aware that humans and not just computers are reviewing audio.

The use of humans to listen to audio recordings is particularly troubling to privacy experts because it increases the chances that a rogue employee or contractor could leak details of what is being said, including parts of sensitive conversations.

Apple said it will still use computer-generated transcripts to improve services, even if a user hasn’t explicitly granted permission, or opted in.

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